Saturday, August 27, 2005

CANADIAN NATIONAL COMIC BOOK EXPO: SMALLVILLE'S JAMES MARSTERS

James Marsters, formerly Spike of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, said he is enjoying the clarity of Professor Fine/Brainiac, who he is playing in the upcoming season of The WB's Smallville.

"The thing I really love about this role, is that I have a very clear objective," Marsters said. "I know my objective from the very beginning and it's going to carry me through the whole season.

"That was the problem with Spike. In all honesty, that character had no objective 90 percent of the time. (laughs). I would have to make it up. (In Spike accent) 'I've come in to kill Xander again, but I've changed my mind.'

"To find your objective is like a gas pedal for acting. And if you can find that objective and play it honestly, it's like 'Wham!' And if you can't find it, you're mired. I'm really happy about an objective the audience suspects and the other characters don't know. It's the hidden agenda of a zealot -- and it's really interesting."

Marsters was addressing a "V.I.P." paid crowd of about 125 -- nearly all female -- at the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in Toronto on Friday. Before answering questions, he performed about a dozen songs.

Marsters said he has done scenes with Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor and Tom Welling's Clark Kent for the upcoming fifth season.

"Boy, I get to mess with Lex Luthor," Marsters said. "I remember on Buffy, whenever they wanted a new character to look cool, they would come and beat on Spike. Because if he got one over on Spike, he must be very cool. There were times I was just like, 'Here we go again. Beat up on Spike.'

"And that's kind of happening for Mike. He's having to undergo getting topped. Not because of acting, just because of what the words are. The script is designed for my character to top him. I've done two scenes with him, and he's kind of getting irritated (laughs).

"It's got nothing to do with chops. It's just the way the producers want this thing to roll. I've got to say, he's great. I've never know what's going to happen when I look into that guy's eyes. Wow!"

As for Welling, Marsters said: "Tom is really cool. If any of you have crushes on Tom Welling, go right ahead. He's more intelligent than you might think. We don't want to believe that really beautiful people have intelligence, but sometimes, they do. Tom's one of them. He's very funny, very intelligent."

Asked if he would make Season 5 of Smallville better than Season 4, Marsters joked he had to answer that question carefully or face the wrath of the set on Monday.

"Every new actor on a show hopes that their contributions will make the show better," he said. "And I am fully expecting that to happen, as every actor does."

CANADIAN NATIONAL COMIC BOOK EXPO: SUPERGIRL'S IAN CHURCHILL

Ian Churchill, artist of DC Comics' new Supergirl title, said he's looking forward to a healthy run on the book.

"As long as Jeph (Loeb) continues writing it, I'll be there," Churchill said on Friday during his panel at the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in Toronto. "If and when he decides to go, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

As he fielded questions from the audience, Churchill drew a Supergirl figure, the completed version of which is on the left.

Churchill follows the Supergirl work that Michael Turner did on the Superman/Batman title, and Turner still supplies variant covers for the Supergirl ongoing.

"Mike and I have a similar approach," Churchill said. "Mike's a little bit more stylized and angular than me. Mike's an excellent artist, and I always take it as a compliment when people say I draw like Mike.

"The only thing I've done to make her my own is give her a cleft in the chin, like Superman."

Churchill's tip for drawing girls? "Keep it clean. A lot of stray lines tend to make them look ugly or old."

For various stages of his drawing on Friday, click on the thumbnails below for larger images.

FIRST LOOKS

For covers and four- or five-page previews of titles arriving in stores on Wednesday, CLICK HERE

Titles include G.I. Joe: America's Elite #3 from Devil's Due Publishing and The Incredibles TP from Dark Horse Comics.

BRIEFLY

* Constantine star Rachel Weisz will appear on CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday.

* Coming Sunday: News from the Canadian National Comic Book Expo -- and much more.

COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES

In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links: